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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26675533">I'm worse at what I do best</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LJF/pseuds/LJF'>LJF</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>we all want love/we all want honor [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aang (Avatar) Is Confused, Aang (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Angst, Archery, Blue Spirit Shenanigans, Blue Spirit Zuko (Avatar), Cosplay, Epic Friendship, Episode: s01e13 The Blue Spirit, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Knives, Pre-Relationship, Protective Toph Beifong, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Sneaking, Sneaky Toph Beifong, Sneaky Zuko (Avatar), Swords, Toph Beifong &amp; Zuko Friendship, Toph Beifong Being Awesome, Yuyan archers - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:22:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,981</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26675533</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LJF/pseuds/LJF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hey, remember that time Zuko was like "But what if I just break into a <i>heavily guarded Fire Nation stronghold</i> to make sure Zhao doesn't steal my thunder?<br/>Because Toph does.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang &amp; Toph Beifong, Toph Beifong &amp; Zuko, Toph Beifong/Knives</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>we all want love/we all want honor [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1936222</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>452</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I'm worse at what I do best</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/catie_writes_things/gifts">catie_writes_things</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Because I kind of stole some of her characterization of Toph (from her <i>awesome</i> fanfic <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/14189820">Fate Defered</a>) for this one.</p><p>I'mma be busy again tomorrow, so here's another work a day early!</p><p>Just to be clear, up until this point, while Zuko <i>knows</i> that Toph can bend metal, he's only seen her do it once and hasn't really thought about what <i>else</i> she might be able to use it for. (He <i>also</i> has not yet connected this to the copious amout of knives she owns. He's <i>definitely</i> going to be kicking himself once that hits him.)</p><p>I don't know what system of measurement they use in the Avatar world, but I've seen other fanfics that suggest they use stone, and I've decided to go with that. (For anyone who didn't know, <i>stone</i> is an old British unit of mass. 1 stone is 14 pounds (or 6.35 kilograms).) (And yes, the plural of stone, in this case, would be stone (no second s).)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>"She's over-bored and self-assured."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>- Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"</em>
</p><p><br/>
</p><p><br/>
</p><p><br/>
</p><p>
  <em>Well, today has been a bust.</em>
</p><p>She'd been <em>so</em> close to <em>finally</em> beating Uncle, until he'd used a White Lotus to <em>ruin</em> one of her red harmonies and claimed the pot. She'd <em>never</em> figure out all the ways he managed to use the stupid thing.</p><p>And then they'd found out about Zhao's promotion and Sparky had gotten all mopey.</p><p>She'd followed him into town, where they'd heard a rumor about the Avatar's capture (<em>that was fast</em>), then back to the ship, where he pretended like he was going in for an early night.</p><p>
  <em>Yeah, right.</em>
</p><p>She thought for a moment, then ran to her room.</p><p>
  <em>Hey, anything to get out of music night.</em>
</p><p><br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
</p><p>"What are <em>you</em> doing here?" Zuko had just set off on his little boat when he noticed her, arms crossed, leaning against the outer wall of the bridge. She was wearing a loose-fitting black <em>(Who helped her pick that</em> <em>out?</em>) outfit not unlike the one he planned on changing into once he reached port. Her feet, as usual, were bare. (<em>What does she have against </em>shoes<em>?</em>)</p><p>"What does it look like, Masky?" She laughed. "I'm coming with you."</p><p>"You know?" Even <em>Uncle</em> didn't know about his little <em>hobby</em>.</p><p>"Of course I do," she said, smirking. "Kind of hard to miss someone sneaking in and out at all hours of the night."</p><p>"Oh." He'd forgotten that Lady Toph might be awake at the same times as he did his sneaking.</p><p>"Yeah, <em>oh</em>." She held out a hand. "Now, do I get a matching mask?"</p><p>"What are you-- No, you are <em>not</em> coming." This was <em>his</em> crazy plan, he wasn't dragging her into it <em>again</em>.</p><p>"Yeah, because that's worked out <em>so</em> great for you the last couple times," Lady Toph said, doing something with her eyes that he realized was supposed to be <em>rolling</em>. "Either you take me along, or you leave me behind and I find a way to get there myself-- <em>or</em> I tell Uncle."</p><p>He shuddered.</p><p>"<em>Fine</em>," Zuko said, sighing. "And no, I just have the one mask."</p><p>She shrugged.</p><p>"It's alright, I'll make my own once we reach the shore. Do you at least have something I can tie it with?"</p><p>He dug around into the bag where he kept all of his <em>Blue Spirit</em> equipment and pulled out some loose ropes and fabric strips.</p><p>"Perfect," she said, grabbing them.</p><p><em>This is going to end badly</em>, Zuko thought. Still, he couldn't help the slight upwards tug he felt at the edge of his lips.</p><p><br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
</p><p>Once they reached the bay, Zuko changed while Toph formed a mask from dirt. She carefully smoothed the sides to make sure no dust would flake off, created tiny holes to make sure she could still breathe, and, as a finishing touch, used one of the bolts of fabric Sparky had given her to tie a blindfold around the eyes.</p><p>"<em>Seriously</em>?" Zuko said when he saw her.</p><p>"You telling me your mask is any less ridiculous, Spirit-face?" Toph shrugged.</p><p>"This mask is a proud and noble part of our culture, and-"</p><p>"Call it what it is, Masky," Toph said. "It's a theater mask. You wanna be a spirit, go ahead. You said I should make my own mask, so I did. Deal with it."</p><p>"Before we do this, we need to set a few rules," Zuko said, ignoring her interruption. "First off, try to avoid speaking, we don't want anyone to recognize our voices....."</p><p><br/>
</p><p>Getting <em>into</em> the stronghold was the easy part. No one had <em>warned</em> her they were going to have to walk around in <em>sewer water</em>, though.</p><p>"This is <em>cold</em>," she whispered.</p><p>"This is why you should have worn shoes," was his retort.</p><p>She didn't bother to dignify that with a response.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>Sparky had <em>insisted</em> on no obvious bending unless absolutely necessary. He didn't want to risk anyone finding out their identities.</p><p>(Nevermind that finding an <em>earthbender</em> who'd try to break the Avatar out of prison, would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.)</p><p>That was fine, she had plenty of knives. Nobody except Zuko (and possibly Uncle) knew about her little talent with metal, and, as long as she was careful, she could make it <em>look</em> like she was just aiming and throwing them.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>She was <em>not</em> prepared for what was inside that room. Sure, she'd known that the Avatar was <em>short</em>, but she hadn't realized until quite that moment just how <em>young</em> he was.</p><p>He was just a kid, even younger than her.</p><p>And he was absolutely <em>petrified</em>.</p><p><br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
</p><p>The door opened, and two <em>scary-looking guys in masks</em> came barreling in. The taller one, who was wearing a blue mask, pulled out a pair of <em>gigantic swords</em> and started <em>waving them around</em>. Aang screamed.</p><p>The guy got closer, and Aang closed his eyes.</p><p><em>Clink!</em> All at once, the chains binding him were snapped. He opened his eyes in shock. The blue-masked guy swung the swords around a couple more times, and his cuffs snapped and fell to the ground.</p><p>Aang tilted his head in confusion. Those swords-swings had been <em>fast</em>, but he didn't <em>think</em> the blades had actually <em>touched</em> the cuffs. Still, he wouldn't question his savior's (or savior<em>s</em>') strange skills now. There were more important questions.</p><p>"Who are you two? What's going on?" Neither of the figures spoke, and the blindfolded one gestured at him, telling him to <em>come on, let's go</em>.</p><p>The three of them crept through the stronghold (that blindfolded guy had, like, a sixth sense for where the guards all were and what direction they would be watching), and had <em>almost</em> made it, when a bell rang and <em>everyone</em> seemed to spot them all at once.</p><p>Blue-mask was, like, scary-good with those swords, and Blindfold stayed behind him, throwing what appeared to be an infinite supply of sharp little knives to pin the guards out of the way.</p><p>Aang catapulted the three of them up onto the wall, and they kept fighting.</p><p>Spinning through the air while carrying the weight of <em>three</em> people was <em>really</em> hard. Luckily, all of the spears the guards threw at them seemed to <em>just</em> barely miss them. (Which was weird. At least one of them should have connected, right?) They crash-landed on the next wall, and Aang and his two rescuers managed to fend off their attackers long enough to grab those weird ladder-things.</p><p>If he'd thought <em>flying</em> with the weight of three people was hard, it was <em>nothing</em> compared to leaping around on those things with both of his new friends balanced on his back.</p><p>And then someone set their last ladder on <em>fire</em>.</p><p>They landed on the ground right in front of the <em>final</em> gate when a bunch of firebenders started shooting flames at them. Without thinking, Aang jumped in front of Blue-mask and Blindfold, airbending the flames away.</p><p>He heard Zhao say something about capturing him <em>alive</em>.</p><p>Instantly, the blue-masked figure came up behind him, swords at Aang's throat. Meanwhile, his friend with the blindfold jumped in front of them, the knives he (Aang was <em>pretty</em> sure it was <em>he</em>) held aimed in Zhao's direction.</p><p>Somehow, (<em>spirits above</em>) this display convinced the Admiral (Aang was <em>pretty</em> sure he'd heard someone call Zhao "Admiral") to let them go.</p><p><br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
</p><p>Toph heard Zhao's muttering about <em>precision</em> and stayed in the front, closest to the wall, as they all backed away. She <em>heard</em> the man's orders to the archer, and <em>felt</em> the stringing of the bow. It was no big deal-- whether the arrowhead was made of stone or metal, she'd be able to move it away from them.</p><p>She could <em>sense</em> the archer's fingers as they let the arrow go and-</p><p>Something was <em>wrong</em>. Despite her focus, the stupid thing's course didn't <em>move</em>, and there was no time, and it was getting closer, and she couldn't stop it and-</p><p>"Spirit-face, <em>move</em>!"</p><p>And Zuko-- stupid, self-sacrificing, <em>honorable</em> Zuko-- instantly dropped his swords and <em>jumped</em> in front of her.</p><p>"<em>NO!</em>"</p><p><br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
</p><p>Aang didn't totally understand what had just happened.</p><p>Blindfold (who was actually probably a <em>she</em>) had yelled at Blue-mask (<em>Spirit-Face?</em>), and the taller figure had let him go-- and then he'd <em>collapsed</em>, and the shriek the girl released was <em>earsplitting</em>.</p><p>Aang stared at the fallen figure in front of him. The mask had slipped and he could see hints of a large burn beneath.</p><p><em>Is</em> <em>that.....</em> Zuko<em>?</em></p><p>He leapt forward, raising a cloud of dust to block Zhao's view, then turned back to his mysterious rescuers. The blindfolded girl had picked up the arrow and stuck it wherever she was keeping her knives, and was now carefully lifting her companion's unconscious form. She put one arm under his knees, and the other under his neck, carrying him like he was a child who weighed no more than a few stone.</p><p>His mask fell, removing all doubt. It was the prince.</p><p>"Twinkletoes, you can gape later, when our lives aren't in danger," the girl said. "For now, could you grab Sparky's mask and swords? My hands are kind of full."</p><p>Aang nodded, picking up the requested items. Not that he had the swords in his hands, he noticed that the handles were <span>embedded</span> with some kind of reddish stone. He'd never seen anything like it. He wondered if-</p><p>"Twinkletoes!"</p><p>He ran after her.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>Aang sat next to the girl, Zuko lying unconscious in front of them.</p><p>"Alright, you can go," she told him. "He won't be too happy if you're still here when he wakes up."</p><p>"You..... you're that girl I've seen a couple times on his ship, right?" She still had her mask on, so he couldn't see her face, but he <em>thought</em> he recognized that voice.</p><p>"Yeah, why?"</p><p>"What's your name?" He knew Zuko's name, and he was <em>pretty</em> sure the old man with Zuko was his Uncle...... <em>something</em>, but he didn't have a clue who the strange girl was, or why she traveled with them. She was too young to be a regular soldier, <em>right</em>?</p><p>"You can call me the Blind Bandit, kid," she said. He felt mildly annoyed; she couldn't be <em>that</em> much older than him. Then he realized what else she'd said.</p><p>"You mean you're really......" Aang trailed off, actually <em>looking</em> at her blindfold.</p><p>"Yup," she said bluntly. "But seriously, you need to get out of here, <em>now</em>."</p><p>He stood up, about to jump in the nearest tree and head off.</p><p>Then he looked back at the absolutely <em>tiny</em> (he hadn't noticed how small she was while running from the firebenders, but she might even be shorter than he was) girl standing guard over the teenager he'd never thought of as much more than yet another person trying to capture him, and he couldn't help but open his mouth.</p><p>"Hey," Avatar Aang, last of the Air Nomads, said. "Can I ask you something?"</p><p><br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
</p><p>"He wanted to know <em>what</em>?!" Zuko stared at the blind girl in shock, unable to believe what she had just told him.</p><p>"I <em>told</em> you, he started talking about how he was born a hundred years ago and he misses all his friends-- including some from the Fire Nation. Then he asked if I thought that, if you had been born back then, before the war, the two of you could have been friends?" Lady Toph seemed annoyed that she had to repeat herself, but not especially concerned about <em>what</em> she was saying.</p><p>"And," Zuko gulped. "What did you tell him?"</p><p>
  <em>Why do I care? The Avatar is just a means to an end, what he thinks of me shouldn't matter.</em>
</p><p>"I said, 'he's friends with me, isn't he?'" She smiled.</p><p>He gaped at her.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>"We are <em>not</em> friends," he said, when he finally mustered up the ability to speak clearly.</p><p>She punched his arm.</p><p>"Keep on telling yourself that, Sparky."</p><p><br/>
</p><p><br/>
</p><p><br/>
</p><p>
  <em>"With the lights out, it's less dangerous."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>- Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Guys, Pai Sho instructions can be found <a href="https://www.wikihow.com/Play-the-Ancient-Game-of-Pai-Sho">here</a>. I don't <i>really</i> get it, but I <i>think</i> I explained Toph's loss correctly.</p><p>Originally, Toph was going to stay mostly out of this one, just follow unnoticed behind Zuko and wait outside the stronghold while he went all "Blue Spirit." But we've already had two stories (<i>or so I have been told</i> and <i>this side of the sun</i>) where Toph just kind of sits around and only helps out after the fact, and there's only so long you can keep <i>Toph Beifong</i> out of the fight. So instead I took a page out of catie's book and decided Toph can <i>also</i> be a jailbreaking vigilante.</p><p>And on those arrows: In the original plan, the one where Toph was just waiting and watching outside the stronghold, she deflected the arrows. The problem with this (like having her deflect boulders in <i>or so I have been told</i>) is that it would <i>seriously</i> affect the plot and development of the story. Aang <i>needs</i> to find out about Zuko's secret identity in order for their relationship to develop properly.<br/>So, once Toph was already doing all this other awesome stuff and coming in with Zuko anyways (like I've said before, her knives were <i>not</i> in the original plan for this series), she didn't <i>also</i> need to deflect that <i>particular</i> arrow, right?<br/>But then I actually rewatched "The Blue Spirit" and realized that the <i>only</i> arrow actually shot is that one. Like, the Blue Spirit <i>knows</i> the Yuyan Archers are there, but they don't actually get involved in the fight <i>at all</i> until Zhao has that one guy shoot him.<br/>In other words, I had to find a reason why <i>Toph</i>, with her superb hearing, earth senses, and metalbending, didn't realize that the arrow was coming and/or wasn't able to stop it in time.<br/>And then I remembered that titanium/platnum/whatever-it-was-supposed-to-be metal from LOK that was so pure even metalbenders couldn't move it. (Which, like lavabending, I call bull on, because there is no way a <i>metal poison</i> like the one used in the season 3 finale has a <i>higher</i> concentration of earth than any so-called <i>purified metal</i>, and the metalbenders can bend <i>that</i>. But I'll suspend my disbelief for this.) Maybe it <i>did</i> only rise in popularity during the industrilization era (and the rise of metalbending), but it probably existed, in some small form, before that. And who do we know who's such super-special snowflakes they <i>totally</i> have weapons made with some rare, practically unheard of metal (especially in small quantities)? That's right, the Yuyan Archers.<br/>So my headcanon for this series is that the Yuyan Archers use arrowheads made from <i>whatever</i> that weird metal in LOK is supposed to be.<br/>And Toph, of course, had never <i>encountered</i> such a thing before now, so she didn't know she <i>couldn't</i> bend it until the arrow was right on top of them.<br/>Cue Zuko being an adorably overprotective idiot and stupidly jumping into the line of fire for her (<i>again</i>).<br/>(Now, does anyone know where that arrow actually hit him? Because I watched that scene several times, and near as I can figure, the archer released the arrow and it just..... disappeared. Like, Zuko gets knocked out, but we never see the thing hit him, there's no arrow lying anywhere or stuck out of anything, and my boy doesn't have any visible flesh-wounds. IDK much about archery, can you even <i>use</i> a single arrow to knock someone out like that?) (UPDATE: Thank you to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/avaya29">avaya29</a>, who explained that it was a "Glancing blow off the temple of the mask. The arrow doesn’t embed because the archer has been asked to knock him out, not kill him, so isn’t firing straight on. There ought to be a chip or gouge in the mask thereafter, but I don’t think we see it. The existence of the mask is the only reason the arrow can knock him out." Another one of life's greatest mysteries, answered!) </p><p>And no, Aang still doesn't know Toph is an earthbender. This is important.</p><p>I'm on <a href="https://ljf613.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a>, hit me up!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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